Comics, Coffee and Some More!

When I was growing up, a small lending library around the corner always made my days cheerful. Every week, I would wait patiently for the Sundays to roll in. Back in the day, when rules were laid down about what I could read, Sunday was the only day I was allowed to flip through pages of comic books. With the years, the library shut down and the closest I could get to reading comic books was spending hours at brightly lit bookstores, devouring pages at an alarming rate. Come 2013, with no reading restrictions and more money to spend, my plan to buy all comic books possible didn’t turn out too well for various reasons. As I sat sullenly in book stores reading what I wanted to, one day, a friend from Bombay handed me a bit of paper with an address on it. Little did I know following those directions I would end up in a place which I could gladly sell my soul to.

Nestled in a tree-kissed corner of the city, Leaping Windows, is not just another café. Born out of love for comics and the need to share the joy, conceived three years ago, LW was just an idea operating out of the homes of Utsa and Bidisha till it took form of a quaint café with a library in the basement in Mumbai a little more than a year ago. With three amazing librarians Utsa Shom, Bidisha Basu and Devika Rao breathing life into the comic scene of Bangalore, comics and cats and conversations made an otherwise regular Saturday afternoon, perfectly delightful!

Quite serious about comics, the triad at LW, Bangalore know how beautiful the world of comics can be. “We aren’t only for comic buffs,” grins Utsa, “We also encourage people to develop an active interest in comics. We aim to convert everyone to comic lovers soon!” The once online comic book library already boasts of more than 60 members within just a month of hitting Bangalore!

Done up in warm shades of orange and yellow, what strikes out most at the café in Indiranagar is most definitely the wall covered with artworks done exclusively by Bangalore’s very own Appupen. With shots of Batman, Watchmen and Hellboy adding to the charm of the LW balcony, what stands out most is Appupen’s homage to Tintin! By incorporating 27 elements from the series, it is a work of art that I possibly could gladly steal right off the walls. Much like some Mumbai fans who have in the past helped themselves to some of the goodies the library has to boast of!

“With the library being in the basement of the café in Mumbai, it is difficult for us to keep an eye on everything. There have been times when we’ve left the library unsupervised and found books missing!” laughs Bidisha upon being asked if they have ever faced any theft, something that has always been synonymous to libraries for the longest time now! “Funnier than the thefts are possibly the ones who forget to ‘return’ books once their membership expires. While we do not consider it as theft, since we know who exactly has the books, it hurts us to lose comics,” adds Devika.

But wait! Along with a great library, LW Bangalore has some great bites to offer as well. Sandwiches, burgers, shakes and steaks lining up the menu might add some extra inches to waists, but at the end of the day, nothing is more joyful than reading comics and gorging on some great food all under one roof! Absolutely delicious, we say!